Supplementary spring system for railroad cars



July 10,1962 R. c. ORTNER 3,043,241

SUPPLEMENTARY SPRING SYSTEM FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Sept. 14, 1960 Q aw.

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United States Patent 3,043,241 SUPPLEMENTARY SPRING SYSTEM FOR 7 RAILROAD CARS Robert C. Ortner, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Ortner Freight Car Repair (30.,

Covington, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Sept. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 55,940 3 Claims. (Cl. 105-199) This invention has to do with railroad cars, and relates more specifically to the provision of a supplementary spring system for railroad cars by means of which excessive forces or shocks applied to the body of the car will bypass the conventional truck springs and will be absorbed dlrectly by the supplementary spring system in the bolster of the car body acting in conjunction with the truck side frames of trucks.

While its utility is not so limited, a principal use of the instant invention is in conjunction with ingot mold cars used by steel mills. Such cars, which are used to transport ingot molds, are subjected to severe shock at the time when the ingots are removed from the molds. Thisis usually accomplished by means of a shipping device in the form of a plunger which drives the ingots from the molds in which they are formed. In driving out the ingots, sometimes the ingots are caused to strike against the car body of the mold car with considerable force. Often this forceis of suificient magnitude to completely compress to solid the normal spring suspension of the car trucks, with resultant damage to the spring clusters, the truck bolsters, and the body bolsters.

Accordingly, a principal object of the instant invention is the provision of a supplementary spring system which is normally inactive but which will come into play when the body of the car is subjected to excessive forces or shock, the supplementary spring system acting directly between the body bolsters and the truck side frames to cushion the blow.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of a secondary or supplementary spring system for railroad cars which will serve to protect the primary spring system against full deflection and possible body and truck damage resulting therefrom.

The foregoing together with other objects of the instant invention which will appear hereinafter or which will be apparent to the skilled worker in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe in exemplary embodiments.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one end of a railroad car illustrating both the conventional spring suspension in car trucks and the supplementary spring system in bolster of car body in accordance with the instant invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view takenalong the line 22 of FIGURE 1. 7

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fiagmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the details of the supplementary spring system.

Referring'now to the drawings, in which only those parts necessary to an understanding of the present invention have been shown, the body 1 of the railroad car is supported in conventional fashion by means of the body bolster 2 which extends transversely of the car and is provided at its center with a bearing plate 3 which is adapted to be received by the center plate 4 forming a part of the truck bolster 5. The body bolster 2 which for-ms a part of the supporting framework of the car body l is pivoted to the truck bolster by means of the center plate pins 6.

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At its outer ends, the truck bolster 5 is suspended with respect to the truck side frame 7 by means of suitable springs 8, usually in the form of a cluster composed of 4, 5, or 7 helical or coil springs. These springs are usually supported on a beam 9 carried by or formed as an integral part of the side frame 7. It will be understood, of course, that the truck side frame will have journal boxes 10 which receives the wheel axlesof the car wheels 11.

The construction just described is illustrative of a Well known typeof car suspension with which the supplemen- 1 tary spring system of the instant invention may be utilized;

although it will be understood that the suspension illustrated is exemplary only and does not constitute a limitation upon the instant invention. The particular spring system employed in a given car will vary depending upon the intended use and load carrying capacity; and the capacity of the springs will be chosen accordingly. Standard specifications provide for a wide range of capacities by varying the number, size, and arrangement of springs making up the clusters, and also by the use of both outer and inner coils in the clusters. Generally speaking, however, the standard deflection of the spring bolsters will vary from 1%" to 3 6" from the free to the solid condition. In accordance with the instant invention, I prefer to have the supplementary'spring system become active at about one-half deflection, i.e. when the spring cluster has been compressed from about 78" to about 1 /2, depending upon the standard deflection of the springs employed in the primary suspension.

As seen in the drawings, the supplementary spring system preferably comprises'a pair of helical springs 12 received in sockets 13, which sockets may be conveniently formed as an integral part of the body bolster 2, the sockets being positioned to place the springs 12 in vertical alignment with the truck side frame 7. The springs 12 are maintained within the sockets 13 by means of caps 14 which, preferably, are mounted on a common supporting plate 15 adapted to bear against the uppermost flat surface 7a of the truck side frame when the supplementary spring system comes into play. The caps 14 and plate 15 are maintained in position by means of bolts 16 which connect the plate to a supporting bar 17 which may conveniently comprise a structural component of the body bolster of the supporting framework for the car body. In addition to supporting the plate 15, the bolts 16 serve as an adjustment means for providing the desired clearance between the plate 15 and the upper surface 7a of the truck side frame. Since, as already indicated, it is desirable for the supplementary springs to become active when the primary springs 8 have reached about one-half deflection, the clearance will be adjusted accordingly.

The magnitude of the springs 12 does not constitute a limitation on the invention; and they will be chosen in accordance with the magnitude of the load to be sustained thereby. Conventional bolster springs may be employed, either singly or as inner and outercoils, as dictated by the requirements of use. In any event, the supplementary spring system is arranged to become active when the primary springs have reached about one-half deflection. When this point is reached, any additional force V applied to the body of the car will be transmitted through the body bolster to the supplementary springs 12 which will bear directly against the truck side frame, and through it directly to the Wheel axles. Thus, in the event of a sharp blow against the body of the caras when an ingot is discharged from its mold--the force of the blow will be absorbed in part by the primary springs 8 and in part by the supplementary springs 12 which effectively serve to bypass the primary springs, assuming, of

course, that the blow is of sufficient magnitude to compress the primary springs beyond their one-half solid condition. If the added weight is of transitory character, such as the impact blow of the discharged ingot, the static weight of the ingot will be borne by the primary springs and the supplementary springs'will be returned to the inactiveposition, The supplementary springs will, however, corne into play at any time vthe lo'ad exceeds the one-half deflection point of the'primary springs system."

To this end, it may be desirable to interpose additional bearing plates 7b attached to truck side frames to coincide with the location of the supplementary spring arrangernent in the body bolster between the plate 15 and the the point at which the supplementary spring system comes into play may bevaried as 'desired;'and while a preference has been expressed for the supplementary, systemto become active when the primary spring system has reached about one-half deflection, it will be evident that the point of activati'on may be variedto suit the particular requirements Ofa giVenlusef 7 V V f Having thus described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent is: V I 1. In combination in a railroad car having a truck comprising a spaced apart pairof side frames having bolster openings therein, a cluster of springs in each of said bolster openings,'a truck bolster extending between said side frames with its opposite ends received in said bolster truck bolstercentrally thereof, and acar body secured to and supported by said body bolster, the improvement which comprises a secondary spring system for eifectively by passing said spring clusters upon the application of excessive downwardly directed forces against said car body which would otherwise act to compress said spring clusters beyond their normally compressed condition, which is about one-half solid, said secondary spring system consisting essentially of sets of helical springs secured to said car body and positioned to overlie said truck side frames, said sets of springs each mounting 'abearing plate at their lowermost end adapted, upon compression of the said spring clusters beyond their normally compressed position, to bear directly against the underlying truck side frame, whereby to directly'transfer from the'said car body to said'truck side frames, a substantial portion of said excessive downwardly directed forces, said secondary spring system including adjustment means for varying the clearance'fbetWeen said bearing plates and said truck sideframes'. f ,7 7

2. The railroad car construction claimed in claim 1 including sockets mounted on said car body for, receiving the helicalsprings of said supplementary spring system,

and caps .mounted on said bearing plates, said caps being openings and supported by said spring clusters,v said spring clusters 'cornprisin'g'the normal spring suspension for said truck bolster,a body bolster piyotally connectedto said.

positioned to receive the lowermost ends of said helical springs and of a size to be slidably received in said sockets. 3. The car construction claimed in claim 2 wherein said -mean s foradjustin'g the clearance between said bearing plates and said truck sidefrarnes comprise bolts extending between said bearing plates and bolt receiving members fixedly secured to said car body.

References Cited in file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 726,560 Bellows Apr. 28, 1903 1,694,988 Sleeman Dec. 11,1928 

